Localization of Graphic Motifs II

1912/1913

František Kupka

Artist, Czech, 1871 - 1957

Striated rays in shades of jewel-toned pink, blue, green, pearl white, and earthy grays emanate from a center in this nearly square, abstract painting. A roughly triangular, flat white area is in the middle of the composition. Moving clockwise around the painting from the top left corner are bands in shades of white, amethyst purple, sapphire blue, and fog gray. Down the right side of the canvas are magenta, ruby red, dove gray, and plum purple. Moving left across the bottom edge are golden tan, peacock blue, slate gray, and grass green. Finally, up the left edge are vivid red, fuchsia, and inky black. The artist signed the painting in the lower left corner, “Kupka.”
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On View

East Building Upper Level, Gallery 415-A

Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Acquired from the artist by Eugénie Kupka; Mr. and Mrs. Jan Mladek, Washington, D.C., by 1965; acquired 1984 by NGA through gift and purchase.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1913

  • Salon d'Automne, Paris, 1913, no. 1150.

1996

  • Frantisek Kupka ze sbírky Jana a Medy Mládkovych ve Washingtonu, The Czech Museum of Fine Arts, Prague, May-August 1996, no. 122, repro.

  • Frantisek Kupka - The Meda Mladek Collection, Akademiehof, Vienna, September-November 1996, no cat.

1997

  • Painting the Universe: Frantisek Kupka, Pioneer in Abstraction, Dallas Museum of Art; Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany; Národní galerie v Praze/Sbírka moderního a soucasného umeni [National Gal. in Prague, Coll. of Mod. Art], Prague, 1997-1998, no. 112.

1998

  • Kupka: Localización de móviles gráficos 1912-1913, Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, 1998-1999, no. 16, repro.

2003

  • Aux origines de l'abstraction, 1800-1914, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 2003-2004, no. 118, repro.

2005

  • Visual Music, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., 2005, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2012

  • Inventing Abstraction, 1910-1925: How a Radical Idea Changed Modern Art., Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2012-2013, no. 29, repro.

2015

  • Keys to a Passion, Fondation Louis Vuitton Pour la Creation, Paris, 2015, no. 22, repro.

Bibliography

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 218, repro.

1997

  • Andel, Jaroslav and Dorothy Kosinski. Painting the Universe: Frantisek Kupka, Pioneer in Abstraction, Exh. cat., Dallas Museum of Art, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, National Gallery in Prague, 1997-1998, no. 112, repro.

2000

  • Kirsh, Andrea, and Rustin S. Levenson. Seeing Through Paintings: Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies. Materials and Meaning in the Fine Arts 1. New Haven, 2000: 264.

Inscriptions

lower left: Kupka

Wikidata ID

Q20191650

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